Who We Are

SPCK

We are a small charity with a big impact, reaching across boundaries – whether geographical, social, cultural or linguistic – to meet people where they’re at and transform lives. 

Vision: Creating conversations between Christianity and culture.

Mission: Publishing great Christian books around the world.

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Values:

Significant


We strive for our products to help people of all ages and from all nations to know Jesus better.

Passionate


We bring enthusiasm and pride to every project and partnership, focusing relentlessly on achieving great quality and great outcomes.

Creative


We encourage everyone to have the freedom to innovate and be bold in their ideas so that our products can stand out in a competitive marketplace.

Knowledgeable


We are experts in our fields and use our expertise and skills to build trust with our customers, authors and colleagues to deliver the best results.

 

SPCK has been helping people find out more about the Christian faith for over 300 years. Our founder Thomas Bray was committed to tackling the problem of ‘religious ignorance’ in the seventeenth century.

This is still SPCK’s priority while the UK becomes ever more secular:

  • attendance in the Church of England has halved in 50 years;
  • church membership is predicted to fall to 8.4 per cent of the population by 2025;
  • over half the people in the UK say that they do not have a faith.

Here at SPCK, we are passionate about turning the tide of secularization.

With the loyal support of our partners and members, we aim to ensure that Christianity remains relevant in these uncertain times and that it is accessible to everyone.

  • Everyone includes individual Christians whom we encourage in their faith and empower them to talk about Christ with others.
  • Everyone includes people on the edge of faith whom we inspire to explore the Bible and ask how God works in their lives.
  • Everyone includes vulnerable and marginalized communities whom we welcome to the Christian family.

SPCK is, at heart, a Christian mission that operates through publishing to share the good news of Jesus Christ.


We reach out to a huge number of people through our charitable programmes!

Diffusion transforms the lives of prisoners throughout the UK by providing free easy-to-read books to prison reading groups.

  • We are now collaborating with other charities working in prison ministry to bring hope to people in prison, their families and communities. 
  • Thanks to your donations and funding from trusts, we have supported reading groups in 80% of prisons in the UK and have sent out over 19.000 books since launching Diffusion in 2010. 
  • In 2022we donated our stock of Diffusion books to Junction42 – a Christian charity delivering services to prisons in Scotland and the North of England. We continue to respond to every prisoner request for a book by sending a set of all 13 Diffusion titles to a named person via the prison library. Our hope is that the books are read and shared.
  • 2023 and beyondwe continue to get feedback from people in prison about the impact of receiving and reading a Diffusion book. We are now developing new partnerships with business, charities and authors who have a heart for prison ministry. We’ll be sharing news in the coming months.

Assemblies is the go-to online resource for teachers wishing to provide a thought-provoking time of spiritual reflection in the busy school day.

  • It is a bank of more than 1,600 assembly scripts that’s being added to every month! 
  • All these resources are free to access, free to download and free to use. 
  • SPCK was instrumental in setting up Church of England primary schools in the UK and it is still making a difference in schools today!
Homegroups transforms the lives of prisoners throughout the UK by providing free easy-to-read books to prison reading groups.
  • An essential part of active church communities, small groups are often where many Christians develop long-lasting friendships.
  • By creating a reliable bank of study materials, we will empower all leaders, regardless of training, to lead inspiring Bible studies with confidence.

We publish great Christian books and resources under nine imprints.

SPCK

SPCK Publishing

Publishing great Christian books around the world

SPCK is a recognised market-leader in the areas of Theology and Christian Spirituality, publishing authors such as Tom Wright, John Mark Comer, Rowan Williams, Paula Gooder and Alister McGrath. From popular books to academic titles, we publish a variety of books that are for all who want to understand and live in the Christian faith. SPCK continues to gather recognition in other genres, including History, Self Help, and Leadership books written for people of all backgrounds, proudly representing authors such as Terry Waite, Melvyn Bragg, Janina Ramirez and Katie Piper. 

Lion

Lion Books

Illustrated books that stimulate the mind and nourish the soul

Written for readers of any religious background, Lion Books includes the multi-million selling Lion Handbook to the Bible, alongside other colour-illustrated works on science, Christianity, history, and aspects of prayer and spirituality. Other bestselling titles include: Lion Atlas of Bible History, #Niteblessings, The Lion Graphic Bible, and God and Stephen Hawking.

Lion Cub

Lion Cub Books
Formerly known as Lion Children's Books

Introducing the Christian faith to children and celebrating their Christian journey

Spark and develop children’s interest in the Bible and the Christian faith! Lion Cub Books, formerly known as Lion Children's Books, include enganging children's books, appealing to 0-12-year-olds. Our children's books focus mainly on Bible retellings for each age range with activities, prayers and gifts. As well as, informative non-fiction and gift books for special occasions. Trusted Classics published in languages throughout the world. Introductory books do not assume a Christian faith and are suitable for schools. Classic and bestselling children's books titles include: The Lion Children's BibleThe Lion Storyteller Bible, The Lion First Bible, My Baptism BookThe Children's Bible in 365 Stories: A story for each day of the year.

Candle Books

Candle Books

Resourcing families and children’s church groups

Bright, bold and colourful Christian children’s books at a great value! Includes Bible retellings, novelty, activity, prayers, games and quizzes as fun, interactive resources for families at home, and church youth and children’s groups. Promotes Bible engagement from bath books for babies to reference books for students. Encourages familiarity with the Bible through stories, activities and information, stimulating questions and discussion. Favourite Candle Books titles include: Candle Bible for Toddlers, 99 Prayers for ChildrenCheeky Pandas series, Wow! Jesus series, Candle First Bible, and Candle Bible for Kids.

Starshine Books

Starshine Books
Formerly Known as SPCK Children's

Nurturing faith in kids

Books to ignite conversations and to nurture and grow kids’ faith! Supports parents and carer-givers with Christian living at home. Innovative picture books by authors who want to help children and families deepen their faith. Aims to deepen children’s spirituality and engagement with the Christian faith. Favourite Starshine Books include: Bob Hartman's The Rhyming Bible, God's Love in a Nutshell, The Big Bible Storybook and Extraordinary Women of the Bible.

Form

Form

Books that help Christians to cultivate spiritual rhythms and practices in everyday life

Form provides books and resources to help you nourish or refresh your relationship with Jesus and become more like him in how you think, pray, and live. Subjects include prayer, meditation and all aspects of spiritual formation. Some of our bestselling authors include Pete Portal, Amy Boucher Pie, Rachael Newham, Brian Heasley, Joshua Luke Smith, Sarah Yardley and John Mark Comer.

Knowledgeable

Marylebone House

Publishing fiction that invites readers into a deeper story

Marylebone House publishes contemporary and historical fiction, short stories, and crime mysteries. Novels with a spiritual dimension that explore themes such as doubt, faith,  and love. Books are for both adult and young readers and include bestselling Redeeming Love, Little White Horse, Lindchester Chronicles series and the young adult series Antigone Kingsley.

IVP

IVP

True to the Bible, engaged with the world.

IVP is the leading evangelical publishing imprint in the UK, publishing acclaimed authors from the UK and overseas including: John Stott, Catherine Campbell, Andy Bannister, Ros Clarke, Phil Knox, and David Gibson. IVP publishes evangelical books for all Christians, thoughtfully written. Evangelical in the global and historical sense, in line with our Basis of Faith. These include classic series; such as, The Bible Speaks Today, Tyndale Old and New Testament Commentaries, and Contours of Christian Theology that have served millions of readers over almost 100 years. Including, bestselling titles such as John Stott's The Cross of Christ and Search the Scriptures Bible reading plan that have become evangelical classics.

Apollos

Apollos

Evangelically rooted, critically engaged

Renowned in the fields of biblical studies and theology. Key titles in church history and ethics/philosophy include Gerald Bray’s History of Christianity in Britain and Ireland, and Oliver O’Donovan’s Magesterial Resurrection and Moral OrderLandmark series include New Studies in Biblical Theology (NSBT) and the Apollos Old Testament Commentary (AOTC).


Our Trustees

Stephen East

Stephen East (Chair-elect)

Elected 2022

After graduating from Loughborough University Stephen trained as a Chartered Accountant before joining Redland, an international building materials business, where he went on to run their tax, treasury and insurance operations worldwide. He has subsequently been Finance director of businesses in the property and retail sectors, Chairman/Non exec director of a number of listed businesses and a Past President of the Association of Corporate Treasurers. He now combines his time among a number of commercial and charitable roles and together with his wife Heather is an active member of Christ Church Tunbridge Wells.

Michael Beasley

The Rt Revd Dr Michael Beasley (Vice-Chair)  

Elected 2017 

Combining his skills in both ministry and science, Michael has had a wide-ranging career in both areas. After study at Imperial, Oxford and Durham, he was ordained in 1999 and went on to work at Westcott House Theological College in Cambridge and also at Imperial’s Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology.  He describes both roles as “a calling to put at God’s service the gifts that he has given me”.  Following his appointment in 2010 as Director of Mission for the Diocese of Oxford, Michael was then consecrated as Bishop of Hertford in St Albans Diocese in 2015. In 2022 Michael become Bishop of Bath and Wells.  Michael is a keen gardener and lives in Somerset with his wife Lizzie and their two children. 

Creative

Sarah Bailey  

Elected 2015 

Born in London but raised in Ireland, Sarah’s career began in law following study at Trinity College and The King’s Inn where she was called to the Irish Bar.  A change of direction into publishing began with Ebury Press as non-fiction editor before moving to roles with Random House and HarperCollins, where she was MD of Collins Reference.  Since 2010 she has been with Octopus Books, a publisher of non-fiction books where her responsibilities included publishing Australian Women’s Weekly.  Highly skilled and experienced in both publishing and marketing, Sarah is currently working on strategic projects and business development at Hachette alongside her role as publisher of Philip’s. Sarah and her husband Richard enjoy walking, and live in Putney with two of their children. 

Knowledgeable

Elizabeth Renshaw-Ames  

Elected 2015 

Elizabeth is a chartered accountant, qualifying with Price Waterhouse, where she was a director in the Audit Practice after working in the US for two periods of two years. In 2003 she became a pensions consultant at Mercer, a global HR consultancy, where she developed an industry leading practice advising pension schemes on improving their governance, as well as advising companies on improving governance and risk management for their pension schemes. Elizabeth was appointed the CEO of the HSBC (UK) Pension Scheme in January 2015 and retired from that post on 31 March 2020 to build her portfolio of non executive appointments. She is currently non-executive Chair of the Management Board of Barnett Waddingham LLP. With a family background in the Salvation Army and a strong commitment to evangelism, Elizabeth sings in her parish church choir. She is also a member of The English Chamber ChoirShe lives in Putney with her husband and has three children. 

Eric Thompson

Eric Thompson 

Elected 2015 

Eric has had a diverse and lengthy career in finance with Barclays Bank, culminating in his appointment as operations director of the Business Assignment Management Team until his departure in 2004Since then he has been the director of the Deo Gloria Trust and company secretary of Outreach Properties and Pauline Ltd. He is an active member of his church, St John the Baptist Southbourne. Eric’s finance and HR background brings valuable insight into his role as member of the Audit Committee and trustee with oversight for staff and HR.  A 'cellist in his spare time both at church and with The Chichester Symphony Orchestra, Eric and his wife Tina have two children and five grandchildren. 

Paul Burrage

Paul Burrage (Chair, Audit Committee) 

Elected 2017 

After graduating in metallurgy from Newcastle University, Paul became a chartered accountant, a career which saw him take on finance roles in the airfreight sector, responsible for and travelling to sectors in North America, South Africa, Scandinavia and the Middle East. Paul’s international experience made him ideally placed to turn his skills to the third sector; posts at the Red Cross and the Refugee Council preceded him joining the National Church Institutions until his retirement in 2017 where he worked with the Archbishops’ Council, the Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board. He is married to Jean and has two children and four grandchildren. He has recently become engrossed in astronomy. 

Paul Burrage

Professor Sue Vaux Halliday (retired) (Chair, IVP Publishing Board)   

Elected 2019 

A highly experienced marketing specialist, Sue graduated in history from Cambridge before completing an MBA at the London Business School whilst working for the John Lewis Partnership and later a PhD in marketing whilst working as a lecturer. Sue has extensive skills and knowledge in industry and academia, and has been professor of marketing at both the University of Hertfordshire and Angela RuskinPublishing widely in a range of marketing and management journals, Sue is also a Fellow at KLICE, a research institute that focuses on Christian ethicsSue has been involved with IVP for many years as a trustee, and now serves as Chair of its Publishing BoardShe is married to church worker and art historian Nigel (retired); they recently celebrated their Ruby Wedding Anniversary and have three childrenSue likes to take a silent retreat each year and loves to write poetry in the contemplative space these provide. 

Paul Burrage

Matthew van Duyvenbode 

Elected 2020 

After a year training as a lay Catholic missionary in Dublin and Pune, India with Youth With a Mission, Matthew read theology at St Hild and St Bede College, Durham. From 2002 until 2010, he worked for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton to roll out a new youth ministry strategy, before working for Bible Society for eight years, ultimately as Director of Programme. He also served as an executive member of the Catholic Biblical Association of Great Britain, and Chair of the Renata Trust which manages the work of the Catholic Bible School. Presently, Matthew is Chief Strategy Officer at the food bank charity, The Trussell Trust, which supports people in crisis across over 1,200 sites across the UK as well as working locally and nationally to address the longer-term causes of this acute povertyMatthew lives in Aylesbury, is married to Carys, has three children, and is a keen pianist and amateur graphic designer. 

Paul Burrage

Dr David Muir 

Elected 2020 

Born in Guyana before coming to the UK in the late 1960s, David read politics and government at Durham and completed his PhD at King’s College London. A former director of public theology with the Evangelical Alliance, independent advisor to the Home Secretary and deputy chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, David is currently senior lecturer in Public Theology, Christian Apologetics and Ministerial Theology at Roehampton University as well as director of the Whitelands Centre and European convener for the transatlantic roundtable on religion and raceDavid is married to Dr Pauline Muir, a lecturer at Goldsmiths College and they have five daughters; when he has time, David enjoys music and DIY. 

Dr Sanjee Perera 

Elected 2021 

Sanjee obtained both her BA and PhD at the University of Liverpool and is now a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham.  She is currently the Archbishops Advisor on Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns. Before transferring her degree to the UK, Sanjee studied Psychology, Sociology & Theology in Western Australia, including Aboriginal religions. Later on, her doctoral research included Moral development and ethno-centric identity in societies in violent conflict. Sanjee is also Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Durham; Research Fellow at William Temple Foundation; Associate Fellow at the Open University School of Law; Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University and Honorary Research Fellow in Theology and Religious Studies, University of Chester. She is an avid gardener, choral singer and a church crawler with a passion for stained glass. 

The Revd Mark Nam 

Elected 2022 

Mark is British-born Chinese who originally trained as a solicitor and is now an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Bristol and founder of The Teahouse, which seeks to increase the visibility and participation of Chinese-heritage clergy in the Church of England. He is a member of the College of Archbishop’s Evangelists and a Minority Ethnic Champion for the Bristol Diocese and a core member of CARG (Campaign Against Racism Group) a policy and strategy orientated group. Before training for ordination, Mark was a Pastor at The Vine Church in Hong Kong where he lived and worked for over ten years. He is a guest lecturer at Trinity College in Bristol, Emmanuel Theological College in Chester, and the St. Padarn’s Institute in South Wales. The title of his MA was ‘What can the Church of England learn from East-Asian Theology in terms of contextualizing the Gospel?’ Mark is a regular contributor to BBC Radio, UCB Radio,  and has written for The Church Times, ARocha, Preach Magazine and The Preacher. Mark is married to Kayi and they have three young children.